I had changed my clothes again, this time surrendering to Raina's insistence that I 'spice things up a little'. I wore a wrap-around tie-dye skirt and a matching strapless top, showing far more midriff than I ever had before.
I started resonating with the energy washing over my feet, and I almost felt like I could glide like Angelique.
The fire soon blinked into view, the drums getting louder with every step. I saw shadows moving across the light, and soon joined others walking the same way. We turned a bend and walked into the main drum circle area.
The entire space had been transformed. The decorations were the same, though a few more had been added. In the firelight, however, the shiny bits seemed to glow with their own light, and streamers danced in the updraft of the fire. Shapes and shadows danced with people, forming a living circle surrounding the flames in the center.
Some people were naked, others wore skirts, and some were dressed in elaborate outfits only seen in spaces like that. Still, other people looked like they had just walked in off of the street… jeans, t-shirts, shorts, even polo shirts!
The drummers were spread around the circle, though the biggest clump of about thirty or so stood at one end. There were big drums, small drums, drums played with sticks, as well as drums played with bare hands. Some drums were hand-held while others stood on stands. Some people sat and played while others stood, some sitting on the larger drums to play them.
The fire in the center had a chest-height pile of burning wood, while the flames danced above, almost in time with the rhythm. In addition to the firelight, I saw incredible waves of energy, dancing and twirling like sparks on the wind, spiraling into the sky. It also pulsed out from the fire into the surrounding woods, creating the energy tide that had greeted me on my way there.
I studied the ring of dancers that were moving to the rhythm that the drummers were laying down. I saw Raina there, dancing in between the brunette from earlier and Gaia, who had shed her clothing and was dancing naked, her long green hair swaying in time with her hips. I also saw Drucilla and Darla, Cordelia hanging with the drummers with a shaker in her hand.
Evelyn danced by, wearing short leather shorts and an embroidered top, dancing very close to a short-haired woman in a belly dancing outfit. She caught my eye and winked.
I caught a whiff of cannabis and felt Vincent’s hand on my shoulder. I reached behind me and took the lit joint from his other hand.
“Thanks.” I said, taking a hit.
“Are you going to dance?” he asked me.
“Not yet.”
“Do you feel like drumming?”
“Maybe later.”
“You’re already stoned off of the energy, aren’t you?”
“Lords yes.”
He squeezed my shoulder, and I smiled.
Time seemed to stand still… the only things being important being the fire and the rhythm. Hands sped up on the drums, causing the bodies to quicken their pace in the circle before both slowing down again. Some people came and went, but the fire and beat continued on.
Soon I saw Katsu, naked as usual, dancing around the circle. She saw me and left the line of dancers to stand next to me.
“This is great!” she said, still swaying with the drums. “Reminds me of a ritual we went to in Indonesia around two thousand years ago.”
“I can’t tear myself away.” I replied. “Where’s Jack?”
“Ah, pothead ate some brownies and passed out in his chair.” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I’m gonna have to get him down here tomorrow night!”
I looked over to Vincent, again stripped down to his waist, keeping beat on a big wooden djembe drum. Something in his beat called me forward, but still, I resisted.
Katsu eventually rejoined the ring of dancers, and I was still swaying to the rhythm. I could have stayed there all night, but soon a flicker of movement caught my eye.
I looked closer, and saw it again. It was just beyond the firelight, in the bushes and tall weeds that laid between the ring of people and the treeline. It was a man-sized shadow, and it stepped into the light.
Herne! I thought excitedly. It was indeed the Horned God that I had met at the Samhain rite all of those months ago. He was as naked as some of the other dancers, his stag horns casting wild shadows on the surrounding trees. He moved with a supernatural fluidity, sliding in between people and shadows, a smile painting his face.
He beckoned to me to join him, and I couldn’t resist. I finally became a part of the ring of dancers, and I could feel the beat running through me like an electrical current.
I danced around the fire for what felt like forever, losing myself in the beat. Sometimes I danced by myself, sometimes with Herne, and yet other times I found myself dancing sensually with other dancers, men and women alike.
Eventually, I shed my top. Then my skirt felt like a burden.
The fire was hot, and a thin sheen of sweat glistened on my skin in the flickering light. I felt the rhythm of the drums reverberate in the cells of my body, and the dance kicked up to the next level.
I felt lighter than air. I opened my eyes, and saw bolts of energy sparking, like lightning, between everyone in the drum circle. Drummers, dancers, people around the edge… all were connected by a purple-white energy that pulsed and grew stronger with every beat.
I looked down, and realized that the entire circle of people was floating almost three feet off of the ground! And yet, nobody seemed to notice… the beat was just too strong.
I smiled as we danced into the night.
* * *
I slept until noon the next day, glad that my bed was in a glamour that included air conditioning as the temperature was already in the nineties when I walked out of my tent. It was cooler than the fire the night before, though, so I found a shady spot with a few camp chairs in it to settle into.
Tiffany was the next to step out into the site, only she walked out of the mead hall tent with two cups of steaming coffee. She handed me one as she sat next to me.
“Oh, you doll!” I said, taking a cup from her.
“I had Gaia set the mead hall up with electricity, so we have a microwave and coffee maker inside.” Tiffany said.
“Roughing it, Fae style.” I grinned.
“So, I heard you lost your new skirt and top last night.” she said brightly, sipping her coffee.
I felt a slight blush on my cheeks. “It’s true, I got into things last night.”
“I saw you.” she said. “And it makes me want to ask you a serious question.”
It was early, but I was curious. “Go right ahead.”
“Are you completely straight, or have you ever been attracted to a woman?” she asked. “Because I’m pretty good at reading body language, and every gay, bi, pan, or otherwise sexually fluid woman around the fire last night was insanely turned on by you. Hell, if your Sorceress aspect wasn’t the source of a lifetime of childhood adoration for me, I’d still be turned on by last night!”
“Now that’s something I just don’t get.” I said quickly. “I mean, okay… I’m not some shrinking violet who thinks I’m hideous like some bad Disney channel movie, and that all I need is to ditch my glasses and put on some makeup to make the captain of the football team like me. I know I’m not ugly.”
“That’s good,” Tiffany said, grinning, “because I’d have to slap you if you thought that you were.”
“But I’m nothing special, either.” I continued. “I Googled it. Almost every aspect of me… my height, my weight, by bust size, my waist… everything about me is average. I know that average people can look glamorous with the right makeup and clothes, but that’s not me either! I could maybe pull off the ‘sexy librarian’ look, but that would depend on me learning how to walk in stiletto heels, and that ain’t happening anytime soon… “
Tiffany held up a hand to stop my rant. “Believe me, as a veteran ‘lady who loves ladies’, there’s nothing sexier than a woman who is mentally strong and confident in what she�
��s doing.” she said. “Last night, you finally let yourself go and lived the magick that’s a part of your very soul now. That would be sexy in and of itself. But there’s another thing.”
“Yes?” I asked, listening intently.
“You are the Sorceress.” she said. “You know that you get your power from the energy behind life itself. On a certain level, that includes the procreative power as well. Sex, sexuality… even if you never create a human life out of it, it’s still the power of creation. Aside from babies, sexuality can also create bonds of love and friendship that take relationships to the next level of intimacy. If mishandled, it can create incredible problems, as well.”
“So you’re saying that sexuality is a part of my powers.” I said, shrugging. “Makes sense. I mean, sex is a part of life. Even asexual people were started by someone doing the nasty. But why is it turning on the queer women?”
“I’m not saying that it didn’t turn on the men,” Tiffany said, “but I just noticed the gals. Well, except for that guy with the bitchin stag head-dress. I could tell he was turned on, but his Junior Patrick made that obvious!”
“That was a God.” I said casually. I sipped my coffee while Tiffany’s face showed confusion.
“A God?” she asked. “What do you mean, ‘a God’?”
“That was Herne, Horned God of the Witches.” I replied. “He showed up at my Samhain rite in Hawaii last year. Nice guy. Great dancer.”
We looked at each other and then burst out into laughter.
* * *
Tiffany and I wound up spending the rest of the day together. We ran into our friends from time to time, the biggest group of them being at the opening ritual for the festival. Drucilla, Raina, Darla, Evelyn, and Vincent wound up joining Tiffany, myself, and about seventy other attendees in doing a spiral dance to weave protective magick over the entire campground.
This is a good spell I thought as we danced. I could see waves of positive energy pulsing out into the surrounding landscape, mixing with the powerful Fae magick that those in my party had already cast.
Nothing bad is getting in here!
We wound up back at the cafe for dinner, and the seven of us sat around a table talking about the day’s explorations.
“There’s this stone circle we found… “ Darla said.
“It’s not far from where we’re camped… “ Cordelia continued.
“The energy is delicious!” Drucilla finished, and all three of them smiled.
“Well, I got a full body massage from this gorgeous hippie goddess this afternoon.” Raina said, stretching. “She’s monogamous, so that’s as far as I’m getting with her, but… “ she added, grinning, “… that was enough.”
I didn’t want to bring up my next thought, but I thought that it would be weird if I didn’t. “I haven’t seen Angelique.” I said. “Is she here?”
“She’s here.” Vincent said, nodding. “She’s currently… locking down the festival.”
“Locking it down?” I asked. “How so?”
“Well, we’re not the only campsite with incognito supernatural beings.” he answered, his voice low. “There are a bunch here, and some have old grudges against Fae, vampires, etc. Hell, a dozen have bad blood with Trevor alone. Angelique is visiting all of them to let them know that she would be very upset with them if they caused trouble.”
Angelique may have looked frail and sounded soft-spoken, but she was nobody to trifle with… as an unfortunate were-roach discovered the previous year.
“Well,” I replied, “tell her not to be a stranger. I know that things have been weird between us for a while, but I’m just feeling too good about life to let that get in the way this week. Who knows?” I continued, shrugging. “Maybe the magick of this event can do us some good.”
We finished dinner and wandered towards the stage where the opening night concert was going to be held. The sun had dipped beneath the treeline, casting shadows across the road as we walked. All along the way, booths and campsites were buzzing with activity as people prepared for the evening.
We got to the hill above the stage and looked around. People were already streaming into the amphitheater-like space, some with chairs, others with blankets to sit on.
“I guess we should go back and get some chairs.” I said.
“I’ll go get some.” Vincent said.
“I’ll go with you.” Drucilla said next. “Naked’s good for the day, but my sisters and I want something shimmery to dance in tonight!”
They left, and musicians on the stage started sound-checking their equipment. Nearby, a few young women were hula-hooping, glow-sticks wrapped around their ankles like luminescent jewelry. There were people aged newborn to ninety, all unified by their excitement over the festival.
I looked at Raina, who was grinning as much as I was. “This is so cool.” she said.
I glanced to my left and saw Jack approaching. He was actually wearing a festive looking tie-dye. It still had a Batman logo on it, but it was a tie-dyed Batman shirt.
“So, going native?” I asked sarcastically as he reached us.
“When my insanely hot girlfriend says I look cute in something, I wear it.” he replied. “I saw Vincent heading back to the site, probably for chairs?”
“That is correct.” Raina said.
“Katsu and I met some really cool dudes this afternoon. They’re camped right across the road.” he said, pointing. “You guys want to come over and say hi?”
Tiffany, Raina, and I were game. The Fae sisters decided to try their hand at hula-hooping, especially since a couple of twenty-something hoopers were relentlessly flirting with them for several minutes.
Jack led us to a couple of ten by twenty pavilions, bungee-corded together to create one long forty-foot shelter. Inside was a couple of long tables surrounded by comfortable-looking camp chairs on one end, and a full camp kitchen on the other. An assortment of tents were set up behind the pavilions, and tiny rope lights gave off a warm glow.
A few people sat around the tables on one end, Katsu among them. She was curled up on a large nest-chair, snuggling up to Jack once he rejoined her. The rest of us found empty chairs and sat down.
A bearded man who looked to be in his thirties sat across from me, a few flecks of gray showing in his otherwise light brown whiskers. A dark haired woman who looked to be a few years younger sat next to him, her hair in a pony tail and glasses that looked like mine. They were dressed in matching green t-shirts with the ADF Druid logo on them.
“Hi, my name’s Oak.” The man said, extending his hand. “This is my wife Angela.” he said as we shook.
“Hello.” Angela said with a wave.
Next to them was one more woman, with short white hair looking to be in her fifties. She also wore an ADF shirt, but accented that with a skirt.
“I’m Nancy.” she said with a smile. “Can I get you guys something to drink?”
“I’m good.” Raina said. “Mind if we light up?” she continued, holding up a few joints.
Oak grinned and pulled out a pipe. “Oh, the horror!” he said, lighting it. We laughed and joined him.
“Where did you meet this miscreant?” Raina asked, jerking her head towards Jack.
“At the cafe earlier.” Oak replied. “I was bitching to a mutual acquaintance about this server giving my wife and I problems at home… “
“A Minecraft server with two years worth of development in it!” Angela interjected.
“Right!” Oak continued. “Anyway, people were getting kicked off of the server, and I couldn’t nail down why!”
“I heard him saying all this and decide to butt in.” Jack said. “I had the same problem last year. The bug’s not in the server, it’s in your firewall.”
“Which had just fought off a fairly sophisticated hacking attempt three months ago.” Oak said. “It probably got damaged.”
“It’s basic security stuff, but that’s my wheelhouse.” Jack exhaled.
“Whereas my wif
e and I, though programmers, are into game-play and graphics, respectively." Oak hit his pipe. "Anyway, that started a geektastic conversation that continues at this moment. How did you guys meet?"
“Jack, Raina, and I all met in grade school.” I said. “Tiffany is a newer friend.”
“I work with him.” Katsu said, raising her hand.
“First Starwood?” Nancy asked.
“For all of us, yes.” Raina answered, nodding. “A couple of people in our extended party attended when it was in New York once or twice, but it’s new for the rest.”
“You should come to our workshop on Celtic Mythology.” Angela said. “We’re giving it at the village green just on the other side of the stage on Thursday afternoon.”
“Oh, that’s a good one!” Nancy said. “I saw them give it at the Wellspring festival last year.”
“Don’t forget our new workshop.” Oak said. “Celtic Archaeology. Angela and I went to the Gordian dig south of Ankara, Turkey last year.”
“There were Celts in Turkey?” I asked, confused.
“There sure were.” Angela grinned. “Remember the Galatians in the Christian bible?”
“Paul’s letters, yes.” Tiffany replied.
“They’re descended from the Galatai, Celtic mercenaries who wound up settling in the region.” Angela said. “The Celts settled in Turkey three hundred years before Jesus or Paul were even born.”
“Are any of you guys Pagan?” Oak asked us.
“I’ve been Wiccan for years.” Raina said.
“Wiccan here.” Tiffany added, her hand raised.
“I'm an agnostic who enjoys Paganism in all of its forms." Jack said next.
“I practice a very primal form of Japanese Witchcraft.” Katsu said after him.
I shrugged. “I have no idea what you’d call me. I’ve done more Wiccan rituals in my life with Raina than any other, but I’ve also had some success with ADF Druidry in the past year or so.”
“You’re a Wiccan Druid.” Nancy said. “So am I.”
“We’re doing a Druid blessing rite on Friday at the stone circle.” Angela said. “You’re welcome to come… it’s open, like all of our rites.”
The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga Page 35